Bath time hell

[sarahloula]

My DD is 10 weeks old and still screams every time we put her in the bath. We've been battling for the last 10 weeks hoping she'll get used to it but she still seems as bad as ever. We've tried putting her in the bath with me, just dipping her feet in first to get used to it, bathing her in a familiar room, keeping a towel wrapped around her in case she doesn't like being naked but the screams still come...any ideas/advice would be very welcome.

Have you tried a tummy tub? I used one for my DS when he was small and he really liked it. Some little babies don't like being flat on their backs on water, it makes them feel vulnerable and panicky. She might also have developed a bit of fear of bathtime because of that aspect or anything else, and is now adverse to the whole experience in general, maybe try top and tailing her for a few weeks and then reintroducing baths slowly?
Some kids just hate water - I used to scream in the bath as a child and I'm still a bit scared of water (although not obviously of bathing ) so it could be a character thing that she may or may not grow out of.

Thank you, I have been topping and tailing for the past 2 weeks but thought I should try again or she'll never get used to it. She seems okay with topping and tailing but really keen to get her used to baths. Not heard of a tummy tub...I'm willing to give anything a try :)

Stop bathing her! She isn't really getting dirty anyway. Top and tail her for now. My DCs only had one bath a month until they could sit up by themselves and then they were much happier. She doesn't need to get used to it - all you're doing is building up negative associations. When she can sit up you'll find it's very different because she'll be able to play with things by then too.

My DS was exactly the same - it did get better as he got older, particularly when he was able to sit up by himself.

When he was small because he screamed so much we gave him irregular baths.

Someone suggested to me when we were having this problem that we should bath him in the living room. I thought this was absolutely barking, but do you know what - it worked. We put on some soothing music, set the bath up and just quietly transfered him in to it - no crying! I don't know why it made such a difference but it really did.

Nothing wrong with a good wet wipe!!
Don't panic. My 2nd ds only just started enjoying baths at 2...
He loves them now. He sits in a bath chair and loves bathing with his brother.
He asks for a bath every time he is naked - a complete turnaround!